All told, I can see the results of a lot of good work paying off this year. I am a bit frustrated with the registration lines - I think the implementation of the policies is ridiculous, and obviously in need of major improvements. Most things that I saw once I got past the frustration of registration, however, seemed to be improved over previous years.

I rediscovered a photo from a trip to New Hampshire last fall, and worked on it over the last couple of days. I have two different crops of the same photo. Here I post the two, and ask my humble audience to weigh in: which works better?

This morning I left the house to discover a spiritually misty morning. The sun was just rising over the horizon, and streaming rays through the mist. After dropping my son off at school, I stopped by a local cemetery, which had a thick mist and the sun peeking over the hills.

This concept is disturbing, especially when you consider the revelations within recent years of abuse by police that were brought to light only by citizens videotaping the police actions. From Rodney King to Oscar Grant being shot at a BART station in 2009, we see the importance of using these recordings to hold our police to a high standard of conduct.

I just saw a tree across the street, smoking. I think it's from touching some power lines. I just called 911 about it, and the conversation went pretty much like this:

911: "911, your call will be recorded. What is your emergency?"Me: "Hi, I see a tree across the street..."tigira notices that there is a fire response SUV pulling up to it...Me: "Nevermind, the fire department just pulled up. Sorry for wasting your time."

It's nice to have emergency responders, doubly so when they're on top of their game.